An airtight package is being used for the purpose of mounting a device, such as an LED, therein and sealing it. Such an airtight package is formed so that a container capable of mounting a device therein and a cover member for sealing the interior of the container are bonded together through a sealing material.
Patent Literature 1 below discloses an airtight package formed so that a container made of a glass ceramic and a glass lid are bonded together through a sealing material. In Patent Literature 1, a glass frit made of a low-melting-point glass is used as the sealing material. Furthermore, in Patent Literature 1, the glass-ceramic substrate and the glass lid are bonded together by firing the sealing material to melt it.
However, if in mounting a low thermal resistance device, such as a deep-ultraviolet LED device, the glass frit is fired and melted in such a manner as in Patent Literature 1, characteristics of the device may be thermally degraded by the application of heat during firing.
As a solution to this, a method is conceivable in which a sealing material containing a laser absorbing material is irradiated with laser light to be heated locally, thus melting the glass frit (Patent Literature 2).